EP2638845B1 - Caméra endoscopique - Google Patents

Caméra endoscopique Download PDF

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Publication number
EP2638845B1
EP2638845B1 EP13158165.4A EP13158165A EP2638845B1 EP 2638845 B1 EP2638845 B1 EP 2638845B1 EP 13158165 A EP13158165 A EP 13158165A EP 2638845 B1 EP2638845 B1 EP 2638845B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
camera head
camera
cover
endoscope
section
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Not-in-force
Application number
EP13158165.4A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP2638845A1 (fr
Inventor
Jyouji Wada
Yuuichi Takenaga
Masahiko Misawa
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Panasonic Corp
Original Assignee
Panasonic Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Panasonic Corp filed Critical Panasonic Corp
Publication of EP2638845A1 publication Critical patent/EP2638845A1/fr
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP2638845B1 publication Critical patent/EP2638845B1/fr
Not-in-force legal-status Critical Current
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical

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Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B1/00—Instruments for performing medical examinations of the interior of cavities or tubes of the body by visual or photographical inspection, e.g. endoscopes; Illuminating arrangements therefor
    • A61B1/04—Instruments for performing medical examinations of the interior of cavities or tubes of the body by visual or photographical inspection, e.g. endoscopes; Illuminating arrangements therefor combined with photographic or television appliances
    • A61B1/05—Instruments for performing medical examinations of the interior of cavities or tubes of the body by visual or photographical inspection, e.g. endoscopes; Illuminating arrangements therefor combined with photographic or television appliances characterised by the image sensor, e.g. camera, being in the distal end portion
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B1/00—Instruments for performing medical examinations of the interior of cavities or tubes of the body by visual or photographical inspection, e.g. endoscopes; Illuminating arrangements therefor
    • A61B1/00064—Constructional details of the endoscope body
    • A61B1/00071—Insertion part of the endoscope body
    • A61B1/0008—Insertion part of the endoscope body characterised by distal tip features
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B1/00—Instruments for performing medical examinations of the interior of cavities or tubes of the body by visual or photographical inspection, e.g. endoscopes; Illuminating arrangements therefor
    • A61B1/00163—Optical arrangements
    • A61B1/00174—Optical arrangements characterised by the viewing angles
    • A61B1/00183—Optical arrangements characterised by the viewing angles for variable viewing angles
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B1/00—Instruments for performing medical examinations of the interior of cavities or tubes of the body by visual or photographical inspection, e.g. endoscopes; Illuminating arrangements therefor
    • A61B1/04—Instruments for performing medical examinations of the interior of cavities or tubes of the body by visual or photographical inspection, e.g. endoscopes; Illuminating arrangements therefor combined with photographic or television appliances
    • A61B1/041—Capsule endoscopes for imaging
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B23/00—Telescopes, e.g. binoculars; Periscopes; Instruments for viewing the inside of hollow bodies; Viewfinders; Optical aiming or sighting devices
    • G02B23/24—Instruments or systems for viewing the inside of hollow bodies, e.g. fibrescopes
    • G02B23/2476—Non-optical details, e.g. housings, mountings, supports
    • G02B23/2484—Arrangements in relation to a camera or imaging device

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an endoscope camera having improved camera head positioning accuracy.
  • the outer shape of the base end of the capsule body is formed as an outer shape variable part which gradually changes its outer diameter continuously larger as it goes to the front end of the capsule from the neighbor of the connection fixing part to which a traction protective pipe is connected. That is, the shape of the part between the oral capsule part and the traction protective pipe is constructed of at least a linear part and a variable part in which outer diameter gradually increases as it goes to the front end of the capsule from the neighbor of the connection fixing part free of catchy parts.
  • Hard endoscope cameras have been used in various fields, such as medical and industrial fields. Such an endoscope camera is required to have the function of changing the direction of the field of view of the endoscope camera according to the intended use and an object to be observed.
  • a conventional endoscope camera is thus provided with a mechanism for changing the imaging direction of an image pickup section (the direction of the field of view of the endoscope camera) according to the intended use and an object to be observed.
  • Recent advances in the performance of endoscope cameras have complicated drive mechanisms for endoscope cameras and have created a demand for extremely high camera head positioning accuracy.
  • Such a hard endoscope camera is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-327916 .
  • the position of a cover relative to a camera head is determined by the cover and a hard case.
  • an endoscope camera with an elongated hard case has looser cumulative tolerance when a camera head is mounted and has lower accuracy in positioning a spherical center of a cover and an optical axis of the camera head relative to each other, which causes the problem of image quality degradation.
  • the present invention has been made to solve the above-described conventional problem and has an object to provide an endoscope camera that achieves closer cumulative tolerance of a camera head and achieves improved accuracy in positioning the camera head.
  • An endoscope camera according to the present invention is defined in claim 1
  • This configuration achieves closer cumulative tolerance between the camera head and the cover and achieves improved accuracy in positioning the camera head and the cover relative to each other.
  • This configuration allows maintenance of the strength of the cover even in a case where the cover is a thin dome-shaped cover.
  • the rib wall between the first space (a space for housing the camera head) and the second space (a space for housing the illumination section) can inhibit light (illumination light or reflected light of illumination light) from the illumination section from entering the camera and can reduce the occurrence of flare.
  • the abutment section is biased toward the holding section.
  • This configuration achieves closer cumulative tolerance between the camera head and the cover and achieves improved accuracy in positioning the camera head and the cover relative to each other.
  • the rib wall is provided with the holding section.
  • This configuration allows maintenance of the strength of the dome-shaped cover with a simple structure and achieves improved accuracy in positioning the camera head and the cover relative to each other.
  • the endoscope camera according to the present invention further includes a rotation drive section which rotates the camera head about a rotation axis of the camera head and a bearing member which pivotally supports the camera head such that the camera head is rotatable about the rotation axis.
  • the abutment section comprises a distal end portion of the bearing member.
  • This configuration allows use of the distal end portion of the bearing member of the camera head as the abutment section.
  • the abutment section comprises a shaft member which is provided on the rotation axis of the camera head.
  • This configuration allows use of the shaft member of the camera head as the abutment section.
  • the present invention can provide an endoscope camera which achieves closer cumulative tolerance of a camera head and achieves improved accuracy in positioning the camera head.
  • An endoscope apparatus will be described below with reference to the drawings.
  • the present apparatus will be described in the context of a medical endoscope camera which is used as a laparoscope or the like for observing the interior of the abdomen.
  • FIG. 1 is a plan view of the endoscope camera
  • FIG. 2 is a side view of the endoscope camera
  • FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a cover of the endoscope camera
  • FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a main configuration of the endoscope camera. Note that, for convenience of illustration, a part of the cover is cut away in FIG. 3 and only a part (rib walls) of the cover is shown in FIG. 4 .
  • an endoscope camera 1 includes a cylindrical hard case 2 and a camera head 3 which is provided at a distal end portion of the hard case 2.
  • a hemispherical (dome-shaped) cover 4 which covers an exposed portion of the camera head 3 is attached to the distal end portion of the hard case 2.
  • a pair of left and right substantially semi-circular rib walls 5 is provided inside the cover 4.
  • a substantially semi-circular concave holding section 6 is provided at the center of each rib wall 5.
  • the rib walls 5 are provided substantially parallel to a direction of rotation of a tilt axis.
  • the camera head 3 is rotatable about a tilt axis 7, and a tilt motor 8 for rotating the camera head 3 in a tilt direction is provided inside the hard case 2.
  • the camera head 3 has a shaft member 9 on the tilt axis 7, and the shaft member 9 is pivotally supported by bearing members 10.
  • Substantially semi-circular convex abutment sections 11 are formed at respective distal end portions of the bearing members 10.
  • each abutment section 11 corresponds to the shape (substantially semi-circular concave shape) of each holding section 6.
  • the abutment sections 11 are held by the holding sections 6.
  • the abutment sections 11 are biased toward the holding sections 6 by biasing means (not shown) such as a spring.
  • the endoscope camera 1 described thus far achieves closer cumulative tolerance of the camera head 3 and achieves improved accuracy in positioning the camera head 3.
  • the abutment sections 11 provided at the camera head 3 are held by the holding sections 6 provided at the rib walls 5 of the cover 4 and are biased toward the holding sections 6.
  • the abutment sections 11 at the camera head 3 and the holding sections 6 at the cover 4 are provided such that a spherical center of the semi-spherical (dome-shaped) cover 4 is located on an optical axis of the camera head 3.
  • the abutment sections 11 are provided at the bearing members 10 that hold the camera head 3 via the shaft member 9, error in the positional relationship between the optical axis of the camera head 3 and the abutment sections 11 can be minimized.
  • the holding sections 6 of the cover 4 are integral with the cover 4, and error in the positional relationship between the holding sections 6 and the spherical center of the cover 4 can also be minimized.
  • the above-described configuration achieves closer cumulative tolerance between the camera head 3 and the cover 4 and achieves improved accuracy in positioning the camera head 3 and the cover 4 relative to each other.
  • the distal end portions of the bearing members 10 of the camera head 3 can be used as the abutment sections 11.
  • the positional relationship may be such that the spherical center of the cover 4 is located at the intersection of the optical axis of the camera head 3 and the tilt axis of the camera head 3.
  • image quality degradation caused by the cover 4 can be prevented as long as the spherical center of the cover 4 is on the optical axis of the camera head 3.
  • the spherical center of the cover 4 need not coincide exactly with the optical axis and may deviate slightly to the extent not degrading camera image quality.
  • the dome-shaped cover 4 thus desirably has a small thickness.
  • the holding sections 6 and abutment sections 11 can be firmly coupled by bonding them together. This prevents the cover 4 from being removed and improves the reliability of the endoscope camera used inside the body.
  • a large gate can be provided at a portion corresponding to a rib wall at the time of molding. This improves the flow of resin and improves the optical characteristics of a light transmissive portion.
  • FIG. 5 shows an endoscope camera 1.
  • illumination sections 12 such as an LED are housed in a space inside the cover 4 which is partitioned with the rib walls 5. It can also be said that a space (a first space 13) for housing the camera head 3 and spaces (second spaces 14) for housing the respective illumination sections 12 are formed inside the cover 4 and that the rib walls 5 intervene between the first space 13 and the second spaces 14, respectively.
  • the illumination sections 12 may be composed of, e.g., an optical fiber which guides light from external lighting equipment.
  • the present invention can inhibit light (illumination light or reflected light of illumination light) from each illumination section 12 from entering the camera (for example, by attaching a light-blocking board) and can reduce the occurrence of flare by making an outer surface (the outer side) of each rib wall 5 between the first space 13 (the space for housing the camera head 3) and the second space 14 (the space for housing the illumination section 12) lightproof. Moreover, if an inner surface (the inner side) of each rib wall 5 is made lightproof (for example, by attaching a light-blocking board), light from the outside can be prevented from being reflected on the inner surface of the rib wall 5 to enter the camera.
  • FIGS. 6 and 7 show an endoscope camera 1.
  • the shaft member 9 of the camera head 3 is used as the abutment sections 11.
  • the shape (substantially semi-circular concave shape) of each holding section 6 corresponds to the shape of the shaft member 9.
  • the shaft member 9 of the camera head 3 can be used as the abutment sections 11.
  • the cover 4 need not be entirely spherical, and only a portion within an imaging area of the camera head 3 needs to be spherical. As shown in FIG. 9 , the cover 4 may be attached obliquely relative to the hard case 2.
  • an endoscope according to the present invention has the advantages of closer cumulative tolerance of a camera head and improved accuracy in positioning the camera head.
  • the endoscope camera is useful as, e.g., a medical or industrial endoscope camera.

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  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Surgery (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Optics & Photonics (AREA)
  • Biomedical Technology (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Pathology (AREA)
  • Nuclear Medicine, Radiotherapy & Molecular Imaging (AREA)
  • Biophysics (AREA)
  • Heart & Thoracic Surgery (AREA)
  • Medical Informatics (AREA)
  • Molecular Biology (AREA)
  • Animal Behavior & Ethology (AREA)
  • Radiology & Medical Imaging (AREA)
  • Public Health (AREA)
  • Veterinary Medicine (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • Astronomy & Astrophysics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Endoscopes (AREA)
  • Instruments For Viewing The Inside Of Hollow Bodies (AREA)

Claims (5)

  1. Caméra endoscopique (1) comprenant:
    une coque de boîtier (2) cylindrique;
    une tête de caméra (3) qui est prévue sur une portion d'extrémité distale de la coque de boîtier (2); et
    une couverture (4) en forme de coupole qui est montée sur la portion d'extrémité distale de la coque de boîtier (2) et qui couvre la tête de caméra (3),
    dans laquelle ladite couverture (4) est pourvue d'une paroi de nervure (5) ayant des surfaces intérieure et extérieure pour renforcer la couverture (4), l'une au moins des surfaces intérieure et extérieure étant une surface étanche à la lumière, et dans laquelle ladite couverture (4) est pourvue d'une section de maintien (6), la tête de caméra (3) est pourvue d'une section de butée (11) et ladite section de butée (11) est maintenue par ladite section de maintien (6) afin de positionner un centre sphérique de la couverture (4) sur un axe optique de la tête de caméra (3),
    dans laquelle un premier espace (13) pour loger la tête de caméra (3) et un deuxième espace (14) pour loger une section d'éclairage (12) sont formés à l'intérieur de la couverture (4), et la paroi de nervure (5) s'étend entre ledit premier espace (13) et ledit deuxième espace (14).
  2. Caméra endoscopique (1) selon la revendication 1, dans laquelle ladite section de butée (11) est précontrainte vers ladite section de maintien (6).
  3. Caméra endoscopique (1) selon la revendication 1, dans laquelle la paroi de nervure (5) est pourvue de la section de maintien (6).
  4. Caméra endoscopique (1) selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 3, comprenant en outre:
    une section d'entraînement en rotation (8) qui fait tourner la tête de caméra (3) autour d'un axe de rotation (7) de la tête de caméra (3), et
    un élément de support (10) qui supporte de manière pivotante la tête de caméra (3) de sorte que la tête de caméra (3) peut tourner autour de l'axe de rotation (7),
    dans laquelle ladite section de butée (11) comprend une portion d'extrémité distale de l'élément de support (10).
  5. Caméra endoscopique (1) selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 4, dans laquelle ladite section de butée (11) présente un élément d'arbre (9) qui est prévu sur l'axe de rotation (7) de la tête de caméra (3).
EP13158165.4A 2012-03-13 2013-03-07 Caméra endoscopique Not-in-force EP2638845B1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP2012055832 2012-03-13

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP2638845A1 EP2638845A1 (fr) 2013-09-18
EP2638845B1 true EP2638845B1 (fr) 2016-01-06

Family

ID=47845774

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP13158165.4A Not-in-force EP2638845B1 (fr) 2012-03-13 2013-03-07 Caméra endoscopique

Country Status (3)

Country Link
US (1) US9345393B2 (fr)
EP (1) EP2638845B1 (fr)
JP (1) JP6183585B2 (fr)

Families Citing this family (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN203468565U (zh) 2011-03-10 2014-03-12 松下电器产业株式会社 内窥镜摄像机及内窥镜装置
JP6043041B1 (ja) * 2015-04-09 2016-12-14 オリンパス株式会社 内視鏡対物光学系
FR3077195B1 (fr) * 2018-01-29 2024-08-23 Foretec Societe Forezienne De Tech Camera d'endoscopie industrielle rotative a tete pivotante
EP3613327A1 (fr) * 2018-08-24 2020-02-26 Ambu A/S Partie de pointe pour dispositif de vision
DE102020132773B3 (de) * 2020-12-09 2021-11-11 Karl Storz Se & Co. Kg Endoskop mit reinigbarer Rotationstrommel, sowie Verfahren zur Reinigung
DE102020132776A1 (de) * 2020-12-09 2022-06-09 Karl Storz Se & Co. Kg Hybridendoskop mit Rotationstrommel für sterile medizinische Anwendungen
DE102020132778A1 (de) * 2020-12-09 2022-06-09 Karl Storz Se & Co. Kg Endoskop mit Rotationstrommel sowie Bedienverfahren
CN113077662A (zh) * 2021-04-03 2021-07-06 刘铠瑞 一种基于5g网络技术应用的腹腔镜手术及培训系统
DE102021213018A1 (de) * 2021-11-19 2023-05-25 Robert Bosch Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung Sensorvorrichtung und Inspektionskamera mit einer solchen Sensorvorrichtung

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Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP2638845A1 (fr) 2013-09-18
US20130242071A1 (en) 2013-09-19
JP6183585B2 (ja) 2017-08-23
US9345393B2 (en) 2016-05-24
JP2013215560A (ja) 2013-10-24

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